Yet ANOTHER aliyah blog -- but one I hope that will be source of hope for myself and inspiration for others.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Gilad Shalit is home...

Gilad Shalit is home. I AM happy for him, for his family, for
us. But I am worried. I am worried about the repercussions -- we freed ONE THOUSAND murderers in
exchange for his safe return – FIVE years after his abduction. Many of those whom we freed, WILL kill
again. These are not random killings.
These are targeted, terroristic, anti-semitic killings in the name of a
religion that tolerates none other but its own – and that targets Jews in
particular for horrific deaths.

What will happen in the mind of Gilad
Shalit, the first time one of those whom we freed kills again?What will happen when he realizes his life
was traded for the life of those killed?For that, in essence, is what has happened, or rather, will happen. There is no way that one cannot extrapolate
such reasoning.And in the mind of a
young man, who has endured five years of torture and little to no communication
with anyone who was at all sympathetic to him, who was obviously not treated
with great care (to wit: his appearance, pale, thin, nearly emaciated,
obviously emotionally traumatized) it would not be a great stretch for him to encounter
this turn of logic.It is thus I fear
for him, for his psyche, for his well being – and by extension for the well
being of his family.

What is happening now, in the minds of
the families of those who were killed by those whom we freed?How do they reconcile the welcoming home of
this young man, who is being hailed as a hero, with the unending void left by
those who were torn from them by those whom we freed?There is a deep-seated need in the minds of
most of us, for some sort of vengeance against anyone who violently removes
from our midst those whom we love.Incarceration is the response that we generally take to resolve that, to
lock these people up so they cannot do more harm.It is also considered more humane, than
torture, or punishment by physical harm or death.But, the release of a child’s murderer is
pure torture for those already experiencing the worst torture of their lives –
the permanent loss of their child.

I am not stating that the trade was
wrong or right.I am stating that I am
concerned.This trade, in my eyes was a “lose/lose”
proposition.It has been said that Bibi
Netanyahu made a hard decision.Perhaps.I recently attended an
event at which Uzi Arad spoke.Uzi Arad
is the former chief deputy of the Mossad.He said, he felt that the harder decision for Netanyahu to make would
have been to say NO.No trade.Can you imagine?Telling Gilad Shalit’s parents, “No, we are
not bringing your boy back. The price is too high.”How could one do that?

A friend of mine pointed out that in
Tehillim, for the day that Gilad was released, both Sukkot and Gilad are
mentioned.Gilad’s release came about in
the midst of the festival of Sukkot.From this she wishes to extrapolate that it was meant to be, that there
is some hashgacha pratis, divine providence, in this happening, now, at this
time.I pray that she is right.

No, there are no easy decisions. We lose
anyway we look at it, no matter how we play it.For, in the eyes of the world, we Jews are always wrong.We are wrong.We have no rights. We are considered usurpers (formerly that was
usurers).On the one hand we hear the
cry, “Go back where you came from”, from anti-semites across the world.Well, we did, we are continuing to do that
and what do we get for that?We are
told, “You have no rights to be in Israel”.But that is where we came from?

So, world, which is it?I think the answer is simple:as far as the world is concerned Jewish blood
is cheap.It is acceptable for us to
free one thousand murderers in exchange for one young and vulnerable
soldier.It is acceptable to do this
knowing that those murderers will turn around and DO IT AGAIN.But Jewish blood is cheap so it is okay.

But we have a secret. The Jews will
never go away. We will never disappear.G-d promised us that we will always be here.

We are a nation. We are mighty and great because we have the
hand of G-d over us, protecting us.

1 comment:

"We are making or have made aliyah on HaShem's command. He trusts us to use our GOD-given intelligence and developing emuna (rollercoastering wavering and strengthening emuna included) to make our lives work. Examine and rearrange your priorities to fit with the goal HaShem has for
us: bitachon in Av HaRachamim. Take it one baby step at a time. Gradual growth is more likely to last than sudden changes too hard to bear all at once." -- Yocheved Golani